Allow me first to mention that I am terrible at driving games, just awful. I’m that person frantically waving their controller around trying to get off of the grass and back on the track. But I have never played a race game that made it so easy for me to stay in the game as Real Racing 2 does. No, that doesn’t mean that the game itself is easy, but more that the controls are so incredibly smooth that only the slightest of motions will aim your car exactly where it needs to go. But before that, before I even ran my first lap, I was already blown away by the game’s opening sequence.

It begins with beautiful movie-quality shots of race cars speeding down the tracks, and immediately makes your heart pound – you can tell right away that this is something special. The whole game itself has incredible graphics, with no detail spared. Your view is 1st person, from inside the car. Your driver’s arms steer the car in harmony with your own movements, and I found myself playing with the phone almost touching my nose because I was enjoying the view so much. The world around the tracks is so richly detailed that it is almost distracting – on the first level alone you can see a moving ferris wheel, and a blimp fly by!

Steering is controlled by your accelerometer, with the options of gas being auto-on or self controlled, and there are different levels of difficulty to give yourself future challenges. But there is more to Real Racing 2 than just making the rounds around the amazingly detailed tracks. Before you even begin playing you must choose (and buy) your car. You start off with some seed money, and the choice between two actual Volvo brand cars. From there you can go to the pit and purchase customizations for your car, such as engine improvements, or superficial things like a new paint job. The money for these upgrades comes from winning races of course. Aside from the cash you can score, you almost have the opportunity to win a better reputation. So much thought went into creating this setup that I want to applaud the creators for taking a standard game style and making it unique.

There is something about races that appeal to us on a primal level. The incredible speeds you can reach, the skill needed to slide ahead of your opponents, and the unbelievable rush you get when you win. Add to all of this the sounds of engines revving, tires squealing, and fast beats, and you have some genuine excitement. Real Racing 2 gives you all of that and more.

It does have to be said however that all of those amazing graphics come at a price – the game clocks in at a whopping 600MB of space. Despite that it runs pretty smoothly, but it can still lag at times. I’ve also had a few problems with it locking up my phone and forcing re-starts. I don’t know if that’s the game maxing out the limits of my phone, or bugs that need to be worked out in future updates. And finally it has to be said that the price of the full version – $6.99CAD – is a bit daunting. Understandable given the work and time put into creating such a rich experience, but it’s still a bit of a kick in the wallet.